Hearsay
by Michelle H. C. Zhu
Summary: When a rumor spreads around the academia, Ryou wonders why he was born in the first place. Because fangirls scare the Kaiser and Fubuki only makes everything else worse by playing matchmaker with him and Asuka.


"Has it ever occurred to you that you're kind of skinny?"

Ryou Marufuji paused at this comment. His hand that gripped the eating utensil froze halfway to his mouth so that the fork was angled in an odd position that suggested he was interested in stabbing himself in the face.

Inwardly, Ryou sighed. By now he should have been used to Fubuki's completely unsystematic questions that ranged from questioning the color of the sky to wondering if the temperature of the hot-springs would ever fall below 80 degrees.

Fubuki Tenjoin was sitting next to him at one of the private tables in the Obelisk dining hall. He was snacking on his own food while Ryou finished off his lunch. Fubuki had being blathering away about some school carnival this afternoon for the past five minutes and Ryou found the sudden change in topic somewhat disturbing. But the Kaiser, being the Kaiser, recovered from the shock instantly.

"Yes. It's natural. I'm a light eater," he replied briskly, returning to his food.

"But you're so skinny!"

"…"

He found himself not replying to that observation. Ryou vaguely wondered if Fubuki ever took a look at himself in the mirror.

A piece of cake-like yellow bread was held out to him. Ryou stared at it for a few moments before looking at the owner of said bread.

"Fubuki…" he replied with restrained irritation. "I really don't want your tamagopan."

Besides, it was Fubuki's favorite food anyway. There was no need for his best friend to relinquish his favorite food just to satisfy some crazy mixed-up theory about him being undernourished. But apparently Fubuki chose to ignore his words because he pressed it closer to his mouth.

"Really, it's good!"

Ryou dropped his fork onto his plate and turned his head away when Fubuki refused to give up. The golden-eyed boy persisted and tried every which way to shove his food into his mouth in which Ryou responded by dodging all the force-fed attempts.

"Fubuki…really…stop…I mean it…"

"But you'll like it…it's tasty…"

After another couple of seconds of struggling, Fubuki somehow managed to bypass all of his defenses and flailing arms and push the egg-bread into Kaiser's open mouth. Ryou stared dumbly at him. Fubuki grinned and clapped his hands in success.

"10 join!" He winked and flashed a victory peace sign. Ryou chewed on the piece of food wordlessly.

"…excuse me?" A finger tapped him on the shoulder.

Ryou turned around, the bread still in his mouth, to see a rather familiar Obelisk girl with orange hair smiling at him and behind her was another girl with black hair. Wait. Hadn't he seen these two before? Oh yes…these were Momoe and Junko—Asuka's friends.

Fubuki leaned back and waved a hand in greeting at the girls. "Hello ladies!"

"Hello, Fubuki-sama!" the orange-haired girl named Junko replied joyfully. "So tell me, exactly how long have you two been together?"

Ryou took the bread out of his mouth. "Uh…" He shot a glance at Fubuki who merely shrugged. Ryou turned back to the girls.

"…fifteen minutes?" he replied hesitantly.

He obviously gave the wrong answer because all the two of them squealed happily and hopped up and down like bunnies.

"Oh, that is **so** cute!" Momoe raved.

"Yes, it's amazing!" Junko agreed, beaming wildly. "Aren't they just adorable together?"

"I mean, I would really like Fubuki-sama to be mine but if he doesn't swing that way, I suppose there's no helping it…"

"Ran-san was right, wasn't she?"

"Yah, apparently she was! They **ARE **an item!"

"…what are these people talking about?" Ryou muttered to Fubuki underneath his breath. He was in the right mind to leave these bickering two to themselves. It seemed as if some people forgot to take their morning pills.

Fubuki stared bemusedly at the scene in front of him before finally catching his voice.

"I'm sorry ladies but we're just…friends."

Immediately, the two girls stopped lollygagging and stared at Fubuki as if he just sprouted fangs and were advancing towards with a vampire grin. Junko was the first to recover. She stepped forward and faced him; her eyes wide open with surprise.

"What? Are you sure…?" she stammered in disbelief.

"Positively."

"But you and him…" She bit her lip, almost looking as if she was about to cry. "You were like **GROPING **him…"

And then it struck Ryou. These girls thought he was…they were…

Ryou's eyes widened and his jaw began to move mechanically up and down, though no words coming out. Fubuki stole a look at the gawking Kaiser and repressed a smirk.

"You just caught us at the wrong moment. We're just…friends. Really." He nodded earnestly.

"Oh…"

"So you haven't been doing any thing physical with each other?" Momoe asked.

"I don't think so."

"No sex, no nothing?" Junko pressed.

"Not the last time I checked."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence as neither party could find the right words to continue the conversation. Finally, Momoe pointed to the boy next to Fubuki.

"…is he ok?"

Fubuki stole a look at the gaping Ryou. He looked quite hysterical indeed. His facial muscles were tight and creased from all the twitching that had been done and it seemed as if he hadn't yet recovered from the pure shock of the situation because his mouth was still wide open.

"I suppose he will," he replied cheerfully. "When you leave, anyway."

Momoe and Junko blinked at his suggestive hint.

"Now that we're sure you're straight and interested in girls, call us when you're going to surf again. We want to watch," Momoe flashed a dreamy smile.

"And I want your autograph again," Junko nodded seriously.

"Of course, of course…now goodbye ladies!" Fubuki waved happily at the two girls. "Visit soon!"

Once they ran out of sight, Fubuki turned back to Ryou, and paused. He stared at slightly unbecoming scene for a few moments before opening his mouth and lifting a finger.

_Bam. Bam. Bam._

"Ryou. You're going to get a bump if you keep hitting your head against the table."

* * *

"Our society is ruined."

Fubuki bit into one of the dark chocolates he had received from one of his various female admirers and chewed on it thoughtfully. He let the sweet sensation melt over his tongue and savored it for a few seconds before swallowing.

"Why do you say that? They're just hyperactive and over-the-top crazy. Don't blame the girls because they let their hormones get the best of them."

"They…those…girls…"

"Most people only use one pronoun to begin a sentence," he correct mildly, glancing at the ceiling.

Ryou shot him a glare and Fubuki immediately dropped the subject.

"They thought we were…together? Like…"

_We were a couple_, was what he wanted to say. But how morally wrong that sounded in his mind prevented him from speaking it out loud. Ryou closed his mouth. He rubbed his temples and sighed.

"They thought we were gay, yes," Fubuki filled in supportively, nodding. Ryou winced at the term. But before he had time to say anything else, Asuka appeared out of nowhere and joined their conversation.

"Who's gay?" she asked, fascinated. She sat down next to the two Obelisks and propped her chin on her hand, staring at them curiously. "I hope you're not talking about Manjyome-kun because he's getting awfully irritated nowadays…"

"That maid's outfit was a joke, Asuka," Fubuki replied hastily.

His mind wandered back to his room where there was a photograph in a spare shoebox underneath his bed concerning Manjyome and a hell lot of frills. He grimaced and popped that thought balloon immediately.

Asuka's lips turning into a frown. "I bet it was, but try telling that to him. Manjyome-kun's been snapping at everybody. I had to get Juudai out of the bathroom this morning!"

"Again? That's the third time this week!"

Asuka closed an eye and wagged a disapproving finger at her brother. "I told you he's cranky. And it's all your fault in the first place, oniisan!" she scolded. Fubuki blanched.

"I didn't tell your boyfriend to start mummifying Juudai with toilet paper!"

"He's not my boyfriend," she retorted. The blonde paused for a moment and thought before scowling. "And don't go changing the topic! The point of the matter is that nobody sane takes advantage of a sick boy and dresses them in female lingerie while they have a 104 degree fever!"

"Keyword, nobody _sane_," Ryou muttered out of the corner of his mouth, entering the conversation for the first time.

Both Tenjoin siblings turned to Ryou and stared at him as if suddenly realizing he was sitting next to them. Fubuki found his voice quicker.

"Mah! You're being such a meanie again!" he pouted and pushed the Kaiser playfully. "I'm perfectly sane, you know that! I just…have…"

"…a mental problem that involves taking the photographs of your victims that have fallen to your sadistic pleasures."

Fubuki opened his mouth but Asuka cut in sternly.

"No, he's right. You need to start controlling this vicious side of yours. Stop taking pictures and trying to embarrass everybody! Especially not at this afternoon's carnival!"

Fubuki merely smirked. "You're just still angry about that Harpie costume at that Duel Monsters festival," he replied smugly, crossing his arms. "Manjyome liked it…he says red really brings out your bust…"

"I don't care what he thinks!" she snapped.

Silence. Fubuki looked at her, his mouth turned to a silent 'o'.

Asuka blinked. A repeat of her previous words ran through her mind and she slapped her forehead.

"Well then…"

"—don't you dare tell him I said that," Asuka warned her brother and sealed her threat with the iciest glare she could muster up.

Fubuki grinned suggestively. "I might not if you let me take a picture of you in that see-through nightgown of yours…"

"**FUBUKI TENJOIN**!"

"…and let me email it to half a dozen Obelisk PDAs," he finished off. Asuka fumed like mad and Ryou almost swore he saw comical gas steams shooting from her ears.

"Alright, alright. Now settle down," came Chronos' voice unexpectedly as entered from the back door and stepped up on the podium in the front of the classroom.

Asuka glanced at Chronos' entrance and then swerved around to shoot Fubuki one last glare.

"_We'll talk at the carnival."_

She placed her hands on the desk and pushed herself up. She then gazed over at the navy-haired boy, her facial expressions softening and her tone of voice growing kinder.

"…and goodbye, Ryou-kun. Make sure to keep an eye on my brother."

Ryou nodded wordlessly and raised his hand in a gesture of farewell as Asuka turned around and headed up the stairs to leave the classroom. A few moments later, the bell rang. Ryou vaguely hoped in the back of his mind that Asuka wouldn't get in trouble for arriving to her class a bit late.

However, his apprehensive thoughts were suddenly interrupted with a high-pitched squeal, followed by a heavy and obvious groan from none other than Chronos himself. A tall and pretty girl clad in an Obelisk uniform that was cut off ostentatiously at her waist stood up on the stage and flashed her teeth at the class.

_Shoot,_ registered in his mind. It was that girl again—Kochou Ran. Ryou had experienced crazed fangirls before but Ran took the cake, hands down.

Ran was quite gorgeous, he really had to admit, with flawless skin and silky hair but Ryou swore she was on an overdose of some sort of drug—girls were not made **that **fanatical in duel academia.

Her deck was as odd as she was. It was based around female insect monsters which earned her the rightful title of 'Insect Princess' and often, the 'bug bitch' from students less fond of her. Ryou really didn't mind insect monsters in general but it was just the fact Ran blatantly proclaimed to play FEMALE insect monsters…

Like anybody could actually tell the difference between a guy ant and a girl ant. What was with the sexism anyway? Why did girls have to play completely female-orientated decks in the first place?

Ran's shirt was something else. Wasn't she aware of the fact that there was a certain length all uniforms had to be longer than? Her jacket barely tickled the top of her bellybutton and exposed so much flesh it was quite blinding for Ryou to stare at her for more than five seconds at a time.

At least Asuka had some decency.

Because of her attractive looks and tawdry clothing, Ran had gotten quite a few boys to fall in love with her. However, she rejected all requests by the other boys and determinedly set her sights on the silent duel king, though she refused to budge from the position of "_stalking maniac_" to "_love-stricken fangirl_."

Ran would not leave him alone. Wherever he went, she went. Whatever he did, she did. The damned girl had changed her entire schedule so that they shared point-by-point parallel classes every single day! It was sad.

(He later found out she also wore a locket around her neck with a picture of his face in it. **Scary**.)

Chronos found this to be true as well because he raised a tired finger. "Signorina Kochou…please…" he attempted to reason with the girl.

But all in vain, because Ran's immediately voice drowned out his own as she began to make her speech.

"Listen, slime people because I have a very important announcement to make."

She paused dramatically and took a deep breath.

"Today. I heard rumors…" She then struck a pose. "…that my Ryou-sama is gay!"

"…"

Upon hearing these words, his brain clonked. Just like that. Ryou's unconscious body plunked to the floor and Fubuki, along with another half a dozen students, stared at him blankly.

Ran looked unalarmed of the fact that the boy she was proclaiming her love to was currently in a comatose. She bit her lip and continued, her voice steadily rising to high hysterics.

"Well, it's not true because…Ryou-sama told me himself! He confessed his true, unrestrained feelings to me in the corner of a secluded hallway earlier this morning! He told me he loved me! And that he would never leave my side because our love is boundless, I tell you, **BOUNDLESS**!"

Ran, being the ridiculously bubbly fangirl she was, overlooked all the repressed sniggers and mutterings from various students in the class, thinking they were just jealous of her eternal love.

Chronos, having experienced Ran's outlandish interruptions in his class before, merely dropped a heavy sigh and let out something that sounded like, _"Lord help me…"_

"Well?"

At this, the Italian man tried his best to straighten up and regain whatever was left of his dignity. He smiled sweetly and pointed to her desk in the back of the room.

"That was very…informative, Signorina Kochou. This is the second time you've disrupted my class so I'd appreciate if you would kindly take your seat, na no nae."

Ran ignored this and continued to beam facing the class.

"Ryou-sama told me my magenta hair was pretty today," she announced smugly.

"Of course he did," Chronos replied, forcing a smile and pointing to her desk again. "Now please go to your seat, na no nae."

Ran merely stuck out her tongue at him.

"Magenta really matches my outfit."

"Very nice. Sit down now."

"Magenta is my favorite color. Right next to pink."

"That's wonderful, Signorina Kochou. Your seat awaits you."

"I know how to imitate Bob Marley."

"Aha."

"My underwear is pink."

"SIT!"

Luckily for Fubuki, he was able to tune out this kind of stuff. Luckily for Ryou, he was unconscious.

Ran sniffled and began crying to Chronos' great distress. "You're a mean man who doesn't know how to appreciate _true love_!" she wailed melodramatically and ran out of the room before anybody had time to say otherwise.

A moment later, her head popped into sight and she waved.

"Though I wouldn't mind if you suddenly ran out and comforted me in your big, strong arms, Ryou-sama," she giggled, placing a finger on her lip innocently.

Nobody replied.

"Ryou-sama?"

"Your Ryou-sama is unconscious," Fubuki called from his seat and pointed to the motionless lump next to him.

"…"

"COME BACK IN AND SIT DOWN…**NOW**!" Chronos practically screeched in a 'Na no nae' -less tone.

Sulking and still weeping about how her true love was destroyed forever, Ran nonetheless dragged her feet back in and slumped into her seat. She turned around and waved to Ryou but only saw Fubuki waving back.

She frowned. Surely, Fubuki was good-looking, possessed the charisma her Ryou-sama lacked, and had a charming smile that won over nearly everybody, in addition to the fact many of the other girls in the academy wanted to go out with him—but Fubuki…just wasn't her Ryou-sama! He just** wasn't**!

Not only that, wasn't he the guy who Ryou was assumingly going out with? _"Dark blonde hair and a white trenchcoat…" _was what she had heard from Momoe and Junko.

Ran gasped in horror. Now surely she couldn't have that! Anybody who interfered with her true love deserved to shoot themselves in the head and die.

She gave him a look of disgust and flicked her middle finger up at Fubuki. He immediately stopped waving.

"Signorina Kochou, face forward!"

Upon Chronos' order, Ran turned back to the front of the classroom. But because of this, she missed the threatening look in Fubuki's narrowed eyes.

…

The rest of the class proceeded rather uneventfully, though Chronos did occasionally freak out once or twice when a random student sheepishly raised their hand and claimed they didn't understand the topic. Chronos was so out of it that he nearly made some Ra Yellow named Kohara burst into tears after screaming about how magic cards couldn't be activated on the opponent's turn and waving around a riding crop he pulled from his drawer.

"Class dismissed," Chronos finally groaned after the bell rung. His finger shot to the door. "All of you. Leave. **NOW**."

There was no argument to his demand as nearly the entire class fought there way out the exit. The class was virtually empty within fifteen seconds—empty, except for two Obelisk students sitting in the back.

Fubuki calmly stood up and began stuffing his binder into his bag, knowing in the back of his mind that Ryou would wake up eventually and that it was completely pointless for him to provoke the Kaiser. He was fastening the buckle to his bag flap when the other boy's azure eyes fluttered open as if on cue.

"Am I in hell yet…?" were the first words that came out of his mouth.

Fubuki glanced over at him, looking slightly amused. "If you're talking to me, then probably."

Ryou stared at the ceiling.

Where was he again? What happened? Scattered memories and images of magenta flooded back into his brain and Ryou groaned heavily as he sat up. He placed a hand on his head and tried shove the wave of information back in so that his mind wouldn't explode from the sheer amount of stress he was putting onto it.

Right…the insect princess…Ran…

Ryou winced at the mere thought of her name. A hand was held out to him and he stared at it for a moment before accepting the hand and was pulled back to his feet by Fubuki in one fluid motion.

Kaiser shook his head as he tried to brush the numbness off his legs. "Stop being modest," he replied to the golden-eyed boy's earlier comment. "It's either you and your sadistic pleasures or her and her sexual pleasures."

Fubuki fought to keep a smile off his lips. "Are you actually saying you might want to hang out with me instead?" he asked curiously and handed Ryou his books.

Ryou shot him a cynical look. "Between you and that raving girl? Yes. Between you and any other sane person in this world? No thanks."

"So you would only choose me over a person with mental handicaps?" Fubuki pretended to make a sad face. "Don't give me that."

He said nothing and merely strolled out the door. Fubuki pouted, but followed him.

"You know, we have no classes right now."

"Hn."

"Don't tell me you're going back to your room! Honestly, you need to start living more…"

"Even if I do, there really isn't much else to accomplish today," he replied briskly.

Fubuki didn't wear down however. "Yes there is," he argued. "The carnival, remember? It's starting in half an hour!"

Ryou could tell he was really hyped about this because Fubuki was bouncing up and down behind him. He plainly decided to refuse the invitation anyway.

"Ah…no thanks," he replied, glancing behind his shoulder only to see nothing. "…Fubuki?"

"Ryou."

At the sound of his voice coming from the opposite direction, Kaiser turned back forward again. Fubuki had somehow magically managed to get in front of him and Ryou decided it was best not to ask whether or not he had teleportation skills or good reflexes.

Fubuki looked serious for once. He then proceeded to astound the other boy with a completely unexpected question.

"What do you think of my sister?"

This threw him off guard and Ryou couldn't help but to stare at him. "What do I 'think' of your sister?" he repeated. "What do you mean, what do I 'think' of your sister?"

Fubuki nudged him in the ribs, his solemn visage melting into pieces to reveal a stunning grin. "…you know what I mean…" he trailed off, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Yes, I like Asuka" —Fubuki's face lit up— "as a friend," he finished off firmly.

Yes. That was it. Friend. Good word. He couldn't deny that Asuka was very beautiful, an amazing duelist, and had the self-confidence that would draw any man in, but he currently had no interest in anything but dueling and Ryou was quite aware that Asuka felt the exact same way.

Therefore, it was pointless to even _attempt _courting her.

Ryou nodded to fully convince himself, his eyes staring off somewhere else. Fubuki merely quirked an eyebrow.

"Great." He suddenly sounded extremely enthusiastic. "Because listen, remember that carnival we're having right now?"

Before Ryou had a chance to remind him that that he wasn't going, Fubuki interrupted him with, "You're in it and you're going to run a booth."

"…"

"I signed you up last week."

Ryou sighed and gave him a wary look.

"Fubuki." He paused to emphasis his exhaustion to the blonde surfer. "There is no way I am running—"

* * *

"—I cannot believe I'm running a booth."

"Well, you're doing it anyway," was the optimistic reply.

Not like he wanted to. Ryou hadn't come here willing, heavens no, not willingly at **ALL**. He had firmly stood his ground, paying no attention to all of Fubuki's desperate pleas, bribes and cleverly-concealed threats, until finally, FINALLY—

"_You know. I told quite a few of your fans that you were running this particular booth and they're really excited to see you. If you don't show up, that Ran girl **might** just do something drastic."_

—he hated having his leg twisted like that. His best friend had arranged all the conditions just right so that Ryou was unable to refuse his offer. Not only that, the golden-eyed boy had insisted in having his wrists bind together with rope "_just so you don't run away!"_

Behind that cheerful exterior, Fubuki was a sadistic madman.

But in the meanwhile, Ryou had a hard time believing that the blonde was an a insane, demented lunatic when said blonde was currently staring at him, clueless, munching on a wad of pink and blue cotton candy. A wisp of the sugar fluff stuck to his cheek as Fubuki bit into his treat once more like a shark gnawing into a cloud.

Fubuki looked too innocent to shoot a death-glare at, so Ryou had no choice but to sit back in his seat with both hands bound together and sulk.

As if sensing the other boy's bad mood, (obviously because it was his fault Ryou was in a bad mood in the_ first_ place) Fubuki inoffensively held out his half-eaten cotton candy in front of him. The Kaiser refused his offer, eying the saliva wearily.

"No thanks."

"Don't worry, it's really simple. Just sit here," Fubuki chirped, smacking his sugar-coated lips.

"That's pretty much all I _can_ do at a time like this," he muttered.

But Fubuki paid no attention to his words. He was too occupied waving to a short boy in an Osiris red uniform with cyan-blue hair and glasses over his silver eyes. "Shou!"

Ryou looked immediately to his right and paled. _Ah…darn._

Shou ran over to the two, grinning. "Hi, Fubuki-san! Hi 'Nii…" There was a pause as Shou cut off and gawked at the sign that hung over Kaiser's head. "'Nii-san…why are you running a Ki—"

Fubuki quickly covered Shou's mouth by clamping a hand over it before he had a chance to say anything.

"Mah, mah, quiet now!" he urged as he attempted to control Kaiser's brother from clawing his face off. "Don't spoil the surprise for your Aniki! I mean, uh, 'Nii-san!"

Shou glared furiously at Fubuki's nervous grin, but took the hint and calmed down. To make sure he wasn't going to blurt out anything, the older boy kept his hand over Shou's mouth for a few moments before finally letting him breathe straight again.

"Umm…alright," Shou mumbled, taking another breath and looking at his brother. "I just came here to tell 'Nii-san that Aniki and I are running a booth and that we'd both kind of like it if you came to see us…you know…when you're on a break or something…"

Fubuki blinked. All these brotherly terms suddenly confused him. Who was 'Nii-san and who was Aniki again?

"Wait. What?"

Shou opened his mouth but another voice broke into the conversation instead.

"Shou's trying to tell you that he and Juudai are hosting a booth together," Misawa replied as he walked over to the three. He took a curious glance at Ryou's predicament but kept silent and turned to face Fubuki. "Anyway, we would all like it if you'd come and visit them."

Fubuki cocked his head in interest. "Really? What are you guys doing?"

"Aniki, who's Juudai—" Shou reminded "—and I are holding a stand of Guess-and-Match. You know the game where we have dozen pairs of identical Duel Monster cards laid out on a table and the person has to choose two cards that are identical to each other."

He then paused and frowned.

"Oh, and stay away from Manjyome-kun. He's really…" Shou made an angry scratching motion and growled a cat-like 'rawr.' "I don't know why he's being like this lately. Every time I mention the words 'maid's outfit', he goes completely ballistic!"

Fubuki sweatdropped. "Ah…ha…ha…I can't imagine either, Shou-kun," he replied timidly.

In his tied up state, Ryou shot a glare at his best friend. Fubuki pretended to be interested in a cart of colorful balloons rolling by.

"What business do you have saying the words 'maid's outfit' anyway?" Ryou asked, turning back to his brother with serious features. "Is this what Juudai talks to you about every night?"

Shou turned beet red. Misawa himself looked flustered and quickly pushed the smaller boy away.

"Ah…yes…I think I hear Juudai calling us now…we should be going…" he said hurriedly.

Both of them broke into a full trot and ran off before Fubuki could point out a few reasons as to why the words 'maid outfit' would be wholly acceptable in a conversation.

"Your brother has a perfectly healthy mind," he pointed out convincingly, watching the Ra and Osiris dash off.

Ryou shot him another glare. "Don't go corrupting it."

Again, Fubuki was about to voice his distinctive opinion when another voice broke in first.

"…I've been looking all over for you, Oniisan. Where have you—!"

Ryou looked up when he heard the familiar voice and saw Asuka standing in front of him. But her eyes were not on him, but instead, fastened on the sign that hung loosely over his head. He saw her golden eyes widen tremendously and the knot in his stomach grew even tighter.

Fubuki had no time to flinch as Asuka's hand whacked him mercilessly on the head.

"How could you do this to Ryou-kun?" she yelled, waving at the dread-stricken Ryou. "He never deserved something like this!"

More sweatdrops appeared. "Mah…mah…Asuka…" Fubuki held up his hands in mock surrender and he edged away from his livid younger sister. "Really…it isn't all that bad…Ryou had no objections to it at all…"

But Asuka ignored his feeble justifications and turned back to face Kaiser with a genuinely concerned expression on her face. She gazed at him for a second before kneeling down and untying the knots to his wrist-bindings.

"Whatever my brother did to force you into this…please accept my apology on his behalf," she murmured while working diligently on the ropes.

"It's fine, Asuka," he replied softly. Ryou felt her hair tickle his senses. "Will you just tell me what's going on here?"

But Asuka never had time to talk because at that exact moment she was interrupted by a loud squeal.

"_You see? You see? My Ryou-sama **IS** straight! He set up this booth all for me!"_

Kochou Ran. Along with a heck lot of other girls, at least another two dozen from what Ryou could make out. More came swarming in by every second he stared at them, speechless.

Some foul language came into his mind but Ryou knew better than to let his frustration out into the open. Imagine the trouble that would cause.

Within the matter of two and a half minutes, three-fourths of the girls from the Obelisk Blue dorm were lined up in front of his booth. Ryou was_ baffled_. Beyond measures. Really.

What was **GOING ON HERE**?

Fubuki scanned the situation with crooked smile on his face. He jumped onto a nearby chair standing by and whistled, attracting the attentions of the crazy girls.

"Ah, ah, ah, ladies! Before you all get a swing at the young and hot Kaiser Ryou, I would like to set a few grounds rules!" Fubuki's voice broke through all the high-pitched squealing and the loud racket in general. He held up both hands and made a motion to hush.

Angry grumblings and a few soda containers were thrown in his direction but overall the crowd of Obelisk girls simmered down and literally hundreds of pairs of eyes glued at Fubuki, impatiently waiting for his next words.

Fubuki waited for complete silence before raising his forefinger. "One—it costs 100 Yen," he declared.

"Oniisan! Everything here is supposed to be free!" Asuka's voice hissed from behind him. Fubuki ignored her, smirked, and raised his second finger.

"Two—one customer per Kaiser. Unless you're willing to pay double for the second one."

How wrong those words sounded to Ryou. The despite the fact he was practically a genius in everything that didn't involve social contact or emotional situations, the cobalt-haired boy STILL couldn't manage to figure out what was going on.

It seemed that Fubuki's demand wasn't too farfetched because a wave of consenting murmurs was heard from the line of girls. Some of them nodded while others were digging inside their purses for more money.

Fubuki smiled and he raised a third finger.

"Three—I am currently very busy with other things so my lovely sister will be running this kissing booth."

…

The words '_kissing booth'_ seeped in his mind and Ryou suddenly felt faint in the head for the third time that day. All thoughts stopped circulating. All sense died on the spot. His brain completely shut down.

Fubuki only could wink.

"But before I go…"

He sauntered over to the twitching Ryou and gracefully produced a cardboard sign out of nowhere and hung it around the Kaiser's neck. There was writing scrawled in a big, black marker.

_Property of Asuka Tenjoin._

Asuka sputtered incoherently but for the first time in her life, no words came to mind. She was virtually unable to scold, discipline or smack her brother. The pure shock of the situation numbed her brain and prevented her from doing anything to stop Fubuki or to deny the fact Ryou was her boyfriend.

Ryou was equally flabbergasted and looked as if he was emotionally scarred for the rest of his life. His eyes were wide open and he was gaping, wearing an expression similar to the one earlier this morning.

But their reactions weren't the only bizarre ones, however. Many of the girls had swooned at the mere thought that the affection of their dreams was already taken by the duel queen. Others were steaming furiously, while one particular girl with magenta hair fell to the ground with a heavy thump and wails of "_Ran-san_!" could be heard from the back.

Two girls—one with orange hair and the other with black hair—also made themselves noticeable with a loud, "_Oh, look, how** cute**, Momoe!"_ and the squeal of a _"Asuka-san finally found herself a boyfriend, Junko!"_

Fubuki smirked at scene he single-handedly caused with a black marker and some old cardboard. He leaned towards the Kaiser until his mouth was positioned next to his ear.

"Just so you know…I want those babies to have blond hair."


End file.
